A 20-year-old Ohio man abducted a 14-year-old girl he met on Facebook, then repeatedly raped, abused, and later impregnated her—all while he was battling charges he kidnapped two other teens, authorities say.
Federal agents arrested Cody Lee Jackson on October 8 at a Greyhound bus station in Utah, where cops say he was on the lam. Jackson is charged with the production of child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. The shaggy-haired creep had posted a shirtless and flexing selfie just one month before, and according to court records, he had been receiving wire transfers from his father.
Police say Jackson—a wannabe Facebook heartthrob with thousands of young female friends—used two accounts to lure his victims.
Both accounts feature many photos of Jackson shirtless, but only one of the public photos shows Jackson with friends. Young girls are often seen fawning over his selfies.
Jackson first got on cops’ radar last August, when one woman and a minor told the Blue Ash Police Department he held them against their will. The two had traveled with him across the country voluntarily, but he soon turned “abusive and controlling and would not let them leave,” court papers reveal.
Last September, cops charged him with interference with custody, abduction, and kidnapping. He was extradited to Hamilton County, Ohio, in January. There, he pleaded not guilty, got out on $100,000 bond, and was placed on electronic monitoring, according to the criminal complaint.
After Jackson’s release, his father, Argil Lee Jackson, 70, rented a Norwood apartment for him to use. (Records show Argil Jackson owns a series of mini marts in Wisconsin.)
On February 7, 2015, Jackson reached out to a 14-year-old girl on Facebook using his account “Cody Idfwu Jackson,” prosecutors say. He praised her looks and suggested they hang out. About 20 minutes later, he said he wanted to have a child with her. The girl replied she was only 14, lived in another town, and couldn’t drive.
The next day, the alleged Facebook predator paid for a taxi to take her to his pad, where they had sex, court papers claim.
Jackson, who is also a father of a young daughter, saw the 14-year-old girl nearly every day for three weeks. During each visit, he had sex with her, authorities say.
By their third day together, the charms of Jackson’s online persona gave way to psychotic rules and demands.
Jackson destroyed her cellphone and replaced it with a flip phone. He changed her Facebook password and the email connected to it, so only he could log in. Then he started making her adhere to a list of “rules,” including one that she must stay home after school and wait for his call, court papers state.
In March, Jackson again arranged for a taxi to pick up the 14-year-old after school. This time, however, he wouldn’t let her go home.
Under Jackson’s rules, the girl couldn’t leave the Norwood apartment without permission. She wasn’t allowed to wear tight jeans, talk to other men (let alone make eye contact with them), or even sing or hum songs sung by men.
She couldn’t sleep while Jackson was awake, or use the restroom, shower, or eat unless he said so. Contacting her family was off limits, as was looking out windows or doors. She couldn’t deny Jackson sex either.
Jackson removed the apartment’s bathroom doors, and he forced her to bathe him, prosecutors say.
At first, Jackson would verbally punish her if she broke the rules. But within a few days, he became physically abusive, according to the criminal complaint filed in federal court.
While she was held captive, the girl accompanied Jackson on a “relaxed electronic monitoring day” to a Greyhound bus station in Dayton to pick up a 20-year-old woman, who is the mother of one of Jackson’s children.
The 20-year-old—who had been living with Jackson’s father—was brought in to “keep an eye on” the teen captive and run errands. According to court papers, Jackson emotionally and physically abused the woman on a daily basis.
When electronic monitoring device authorities checked on Jackson, the woman would take the 14-year-old girl out of the apartment. Sometimes the girls would stay overnight in another city (such as Knoxville, Tennessee or Louisville, Kentucky) to avoid being caught by monitoring officials.
The 14-year-old was at Jackson’s residence for just under two months when she discovered she was pregnant. This prompted Jackson to be “nicer to her again, even buying her a giant stuffed animal and gifts from Bath and Body Works, and allowing her to take prenatal vitamins,” the criminal complaint states.
But soon after the Prince Charming act wore off, and “he started yelling at her and smacking her again,” court papers say.
Jackson then turned violent. While she wasn’t feeling well, Jackson would force her to have anal intercourse with him, while covering her mouth to mute her screaming, according to court papers.
The five-month hell ended on July 31 when Jackson agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge in his original kidnapping case. As part of the deal, authorities removed Jackson’s electronic monitoring device.
Then he split.
The 20-year-old woman, and the expectant teen mom, waited to see if Jackson would return. The next day, they asked the landlord to drive them to the 14-year-old girl’s brother, who took her to her grandparents’ house.
As she stayed with her grandparents, Jackson contacted his former captive through Facebook. He threatened to murder the girl and her family if she didn’t send him sexually explicit photos of herself so he could masturbate to them, court records state.
Authorities say Jackson used his two Facebook accounts to transfer the child porn and deleted the images immediately. Jackson controlled both accounts, but the 14-year-old used her cellphone to take screenshots of pornographic material.
In exchange for a bus ticket back to Wisconsin, the girl gave her grandparents her cellphone, which had images documenting Jackson’s physical abuse and texts exposing her captivity inside his apartment.
Jackson became a fugitive on August 24, when he failed to show up for his sentencing in the kidnapping case. While he was on the run, his father repeatedly sent him money transfers. The last transfer was received in Texas, court papers show.
He was finally nabbed in Salt Lake City, Utah, by Drug Enforcement Administration agents. When the officers approached him, Jackson allegedly lied about his identity, then fled. He was cuffed after a short foot chase, the Deseret News reported.
The “Cody Idfwu Jackson” Facebook account had 4,728 friends Thursday afternoon and was followed by 1,414 others. Many of them appear to be teenage girls. The letters in the name appear to be a common social media acronym for “I Don’t Fuck With You.”
Jackson also posted inspirational quotes on the “Idfwu” account. One read: “Kiss her until she sighs, spank her until it stings, finger her until she’s soaked, lick her until she shudders, fuck her until she screams, and always respect her.”
